AMES  T.  BRADY. 


. 


•---'  -•..--•-:-•-  .    •:  ^^^S^SSSI 


(t 

\J  -~    r-^  "^ 


CHRISTMAS    DREAM 


JAMES    T.    BRADY. 


I  L  L  U  8  T  R  A  TED     B  Y     E  P  W  A  R  T>     S .     H  A  I,  L 


NEW    YORK: 

PUBLISHED    BY    P.    A  PPL  ETON    *    CO., 

433    AND    445    BROADWAY. 
T.  0  N  I)  ON:    1  0    LITTLE    BRITAIN'. 

1861. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  I860,  by 

STEPHEN  C.  MASSETT. 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


Mi;.  STKPHKX  C.  MASSETT: 

J/V  />/'ar  Stephen  : 

I  dedicate  to  you  this  little  volume. 

The  sketeli  it  contains  was  \vritten  some  fourteen  years  ago.  when 
you  were  a  clerk  in  my  office,  and  I  did  not  suppose  it  would  ever  be 
presented  in  a  more  durable  form.  But  as  you  retained  a  copy,  took 
it  with  you  on  your  various  pilgrimages,  and  during-  the  Christmas 
season  read  it  to  strangers  even  at  the  Antipodes,  it  seems  to  be 
yours  more  than  mine,  and  I  thus  bestow  it  upon  you.  Mr.  EDWARD 
S.  HALL  has  made  the  book  valuable  by  the  admirable  illustrations 
with  which  he  has  adorned  it.  and  there  may  be  some  who  will  pos 
sibly  derive  gratification  from  having  this  frail  memorial  of  him  who. 
with  affection  and  esteem,  subscribes  himself 

YOURS    EVKJi. 

JAMES    T.    BRADY. 
XK\V  YOKK.   Murrli  2U.    1S(J(). 


2052381 


Christmas  $rram. 


C  II  A  P  T  E  II    I . 

OT  one  cent." 

"  But  please,  sir,  we  haven't  any  bread  at  home/' 
"  Not  one  cent,  I  say — begone  !" 

y>        Yet    it    was    Christinas    Eve,    and    this    sullen 
denial    proceeded    from    one    well    provided    with 


A    OHEISTM  AS    DUE  AM. 

the  world's  goods,  toward  a  ragged  and  barefooted 
girl,  who,  as  she  tramped  over  the  cold  pavement, 
held  out  to  the  stony-hearted  man  a  thin  and  tremu 
lous  hand. 

Yes  !  It  was  Christmas  Eve,  the  anniversary  of  that 
holy  hour  when  we  are  taught  that  He  was  born, 
who,  turning  aside  from  the  great  and  the  wealthy, 

O  O  «/  / 

sought  the  abodes  of  the  humble,  and  achieved  his 
most  divine  labors  for  man  in  relieving  the  loathsome 
and  degraded. 

It  was  Christmas  Eve,  and  the  heart  of  a  girl  which 
could  have  been  made  happy  by  the  meanest  coin 
that  ever  oppresses  the  rags  of  a  beggar,  was  by  a 
cold  denial  of  the  pitiful  boon,  sent  cheerless  out  upon 
the  wide  sea  of  selfishness,  where  if  it  should  break 
in  agony,  the  event  would  no  more  attract  the  notice 
of  the  multitude  amidst  Avhich  it  happened,  than  the 
burstino-  of  a  bubble  would  disturb  the  ocean. 

O 

It  was  Christmas  Eve,  and  the  streets  were  crowded 
with  happy  people,  who  thronged  about  the  varioiis  shops 
to  provide  a  jolly  dinner  for  the  morrow,  or  to  purchase 
presents  for  young  folks  who  were  destined  to  dream  all 


A"  ('II  R1STMAS    DREAM. 
iii"%lit  of    treasures,  more  valuable    and  vast  than  those 

o 

which  were  displayed  at  the  magic  mention  of  "  Open 
Sesame."  Where  the  toys  glittered  in  profusion,  the  boys 
were  gathered  at  the  door,  wondering  at  the  prices  of 
what  they  were  never  to  obtain,  and  gratifying  their  spirits 
by  wishes  that  were  never  to  be  realized.  In  the  windows 
of  confectioners'  shops,  were  exhibited  the  luscious  and 
captivating  preparations  which  were  very  likely  soon 
to  occasion  busy  employment  for  the  family  physician. 
Past  all  these  the  wretched  girl  wandered  disconsolately, 
wearying  herself  still  with  the  inquiry  why  others 
should  be  so  blessed  with  all  the  means  of  pleasure, 
while  she,  in  the  prime  of  her  life,  knew  little  but 
sorrow  and  want.  She  had  not  yet  become  acquainted 
with  Adam  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations,  nor  investigated 
a  report  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

I  had  no  time  to  pursue  the  person  or  fortunes  of  the 
girl.  She  disappeared  suddenly  in  the  tide  of  human 
beings  that  swept  on  in  sullen  monotony,  even  like  the 
river  which  in  its  way  to  the  ocean  pauses  not,  whether 
the  flower,  the  ripe  fruit,  the  decayed  tree,  or  the  being 
full  of  life,  fall  on  its  rapid  waters.  My  attention  was 

(2)  9 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

arrested  by  the  haggard  features  of  a  miserable  chiffonnier, 
who,  with  a  sack  over  his  shoulder,  and  a  hook  in  his 
hand,  was  journeying  homeward  after  a  day's  vile  labor 
in  searching  the  kennels  of  the  metropolis.  A  fur  cap 
drawn  far  down  to  his  eyes,  left  exposed  a  sharp  brow, 
under  which  wrere  hidden  cavernous  eyes  that  seemed 
to  shrink  from  the  foul  work  to  which  they  were  sub 
jected.  One  would  have  thought  while  gazing  on  his 


sunken  cheeks,  stern  mouth,  and  projecting  chin,  that  no 
smile  had  even,  for  one  instant,  lighted  his  sombre  coun- 

10 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

tenanee.  And  yet  who  knows  that  he  had  not  a  hopeful 
and  a  happy  youth  in  the  "  pleasant  land  of  France,"  or 
the  romantic  home  of  the  Switzer?  It  was  hard  to 
believe  that  the  morose  and  melancholy  wretch  had  ever 
been  a  child,  and  nestled  in  the  arms  of  a  devoted  mother, 
while  her  fond  eye  shone  upon  his  sweet  slumber,  like  the 
evening  star  upon  the  dusky  earth.  But  so  it  had  been, 
no  doubt,  and  possibly  there  were  many  who  came  at  his 
birth  to  congratulate  proud  parents ;  hopes  for  a  family's 
honor  had  perhaps  grown  strong  as  he  progressed  toward 
boyhood ;  he  had  haply  been  confided  by  a  dying  mother 
to  the  care  of  a  merciful  heaven,  and  sent  out  upon  the 
world  to  seek  his  fortune,  with  the  cheering  encourage- 

O  O 

ment  of  interested  friends.  To  think  that  the  child, 
which,  fresh  from  Heaven,  would  have  received  the 
blessing  of  the  Redeemer,  if  it  had  lived  in  the  period  of 
his  benevolent  mission,  should  thus  be  converted  into  a 
begrimed  and  wrinkled  wretch,  obtaining  the  means  of 
existence  from  the  very  refuse  of  poverty  ! 

"The    world    has  more  justice   than  we   believe,"   re 
marked  at  this  moment  a  gentleman  passing  me,  to  the 

friend  at  his  side  ;  and  I  knew  from  the  speaker's  look 

11 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

and  manner  that  the  way  of  his  life  had  been  one  of  ease 
and  success,  and  that  he  knew  no  more  of  the  fierce  pas 
sions  and  dreadful  wrongs  that  often  convulse  men's 

O 

frames,  than  the  little  rivulet,  making  its  way  century 
after  century  through  the  solemn  stillness  of  a  primeval 
forest,  knows  of  the  tempests  that  sweep  the  ocean  in  the 
wildest  nights. 

A  carriage  passed  me— the  high-mettled  horses  at 
tached  to  which  were  controlled  in  their  graceful  and 
spirited  movements  by  a  pompons  coachman,  who  held 


the   reins  delicately  on   the   fingers  of  his  white  gloves, 
while  behind,  a  footman  in  lace  and  frippery  looked  over 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

the  top  of  the  vehicle  as  if  in  constant  expectation  that 
an  acquaintance  would  come  flying  over  the  heads  of  the 
horses.  Inside  was  the  same  churl  who  had  refused  the 
girl  one  copper,  and  it  was  plain  that  he  had  forgotten 
forever,  except,  perhaps,  as  the  theme  of  an  inflated  dis 
course  about  "  increasing  pauperism,"  what  I  could  not 
but  remember  as  a  striking  illustration  of  those  dispari 
ties  which,  while  they  must  ever  exist  in  life,  can  never 
fail  to  excite  the  regrets  of  all  who  wish  that  there  could 

o 

be  less  of  suffering  on  earth,  and  more  of  real  pleasure. 

A  terrible  shriek  arose  from  the  pavement,  and  I  saw 
the  wheel  of  the  churl's  carriage  pass  over  the  leg  of  an 
unfortunate  girl.  The  carriage  stopped  for  a  moment. 
The  driver  coolly  inquired  if  any  body  were  hurt ;  the 
crowd  who  had  immediately  assembled,  told  him  to  drive 
on,  and  I  pushed  toward  the  injured  girl,  just  in  time  to 
see  that  it  was  she  wTho  had  but  a  few  minutes  before 
elicited  my  sympathies,  and  that  the  coarse  man  who  was 
holding  her  in  his  arms,  and  exclaiming  in  French,  "  My 
daughter,"  "  My  poor  daughter,"  was  the  scavenger  whose 
dismal  face  I  had  just  encountered. 

Even  at  the  moment  when  the  poor  girl  was  borne  into 

13 


A    CHRISTMAS    DKEAM 

a  druggist's  shop,  and  while  the  crowd  stood  gazing  in,  a 
boy  racing  past  exclaimed,  as  if  the  world  depended  on 
his  hm^s : 

O 

"  I  wish  you  a  merry  Christmas,  and  a  happy  New 
Year." 

The  crowd  melted  away  from  the  apothecary's  door, 
the  shuffle  of  the  multitude  went  on  in  its  old  monotony, 
the  curses  and  shouts  of  omnibus  drivers  were  heard 
above  the  clatter  of  myriad  wheels  rattling  over  the 
cobble  stones,  and  I  wended  my  way  homeward,  resolved 
that  I  would  on  the  morrow  search  for  the  unfortunate 
girl,  and  see  what  might  be  done  to  relieve  her.  But  the 
sounds  of  music  issuing  from  a  fashionable  restaurant 
attracted  my  attention,  and  I  went  in. 

We  all  know  what  a  restaurant  is  in  New  York  now ; 
with  what  elegance  and  costliness,  if  not  taste,  most 
spacious  "salom  a  manger'1''  have  been  arranged,  where 
mirrors  and  polished  white  columns  ornamented  with 
gold,  and  gay  curtains  with  glittering  loops,  and  cush 
ioned  seats,  invite  to  Apician  suppers,  with  which  the 
most  fastidious  palate  must  be  gratified. 

I  hid  myself  in  one  of  the  boxes,  and  modestly  ordered 

14 


A    ('II  RISTMAS    DREAM. 

some  ale  and  a  cigar,  resolved  to  let  the  music  which  had 
lured  me  from  my  homeward  path,  harmonize  with  the 
thoughts  which  arose  out  of  the  strange  episode  in  my 
life  which  had  occurred  from  the  accident  to  the  girl,  and 
the  circumstances  which  preceded  it. 

Well,  it  has  ever  been  so,  and  it  must  be  so  until  the 
end  of  time.  Poets  and  orators  have  complained  that 
suffering  too  often  attends  the  lives  of  those  who,  de 
prived  of  the  means  to  make  woe  endurable,  linger  through 
a  painful  existence  to  a  wretched  end.  And  this  should 
stimulate  the  faith  and  the  hope  of  the  skeptic  in  his 
heaviest  and  most  cheerless  despondency.  It  cannot  be 
that  the  Almighty  will  not,  at  some  time,  and  in  his 
own  inscrutable  manner,  equalize  the  disparities  at  which 
in  this  life  we  revolt.  His  omniscience — which,  seeing; 

o 

through  all  the  disguises  of  a  corrupt  nature,  beholds  the 
lecher  in  the  priest,  and  the  virgin  spirit  in  the  unfortu 
nate  harlot ;  he  who  knows  how  favorably  the  conscience 
that  has  yielded  to  strong  temptations  compares  with  that 
which  never  felt  the  necessity  of  resisting  one  dishonest 
impulse ;  he  who  beholds  the  injustice  by  which  trembling 
innocence  suffers  at  the  bar  where  bloated  arrogance  pre- 
15 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

sides  ;  lie  who  lias  Ms  quick  ear  ready  to  catch  the  dying 
murmur  of  the  poor  outcast,  reluctant  even  in  the  last 
agony  to  let  the  world  that  has,  rejected  him  know  how 
he  feels  its  tyranny ;  he,  in  short,  who  knows  the  truth 
and  the  risrht,  and  can  exhume  them  though  centuries  of 

O         /  O 

falsehood  and  wrong  be  piled  above,  has  some  great 
temple  ready,  where,  under  his  own  infallible  guidance 
that  which  was  unjust  on  earth  shall  be  remedied,  and 
those  who  suffered  injustice  shall  be  redressed. 

All  this  while  the  four  musicians  performed  a  sweet 
German  melody,  full  of  home  and  its  associations, 
a  touching  strain  which  convinced  me  that  music  de- 

O 

rives  its  power  from  harmonizing  with  those  unuttered 
thoughts  of  our  deepest  nature  for  which  mere  language 
is  inadequate.  Yes  !  And  it  is  but  just  there  should  be 
a  heaven  in  which  those  silent  and  unrevealed  aspirations 
of  the  spirit  which  can  never  be  satisfied  here,  and  at 
which  the  world  scoff,  may  find  the  pleasure  for  which 
they  long. 

The  ale  was  heavy  withal,  and  my  eyes  drooped  under 
its  unpoetical  influence,  so  I  left  the  lights,  the  Germans, 
and  the  music,  and  would  have  made  my  way  homeward, 

16 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

liad  I  not  been  arrested  at  the  door-step  by  a  withered 
old  man,  very  like  the  poor  scavenger,  but  a  little  more 
neatly  attired,  who  had  a  sack  over  his  shoulder,  and 
seemed  hurried  for  time.  As  he  expressed  a  wish  to 
have  some  conversation  with  me,  we  passed  back  to  the 
seat  I  had  just  left,  and  amidst  the  music,  the  clatter,  and 
the  smoke,  took  seats,  and  commenced  gazing  at  each 
other  with  silent  but  absorbing  interest. 


CIIAPTEli    II. 

)Y  vis  a  vi-s-  was  decidedly  a  strange  character.  It 
was  difficult  to  detect  the  exact  expression  of 
his  countenance,  for  it  varied  continually.  Lay 
ing  upon  the  table  the  sack  I  have  mentioned, 
and  opening  it,  he  proceeded,  with  a  very  grave 
air,  to  produce  a  number  of  volumes,  and  arrange  them 
with  studious  care. 

"  You  will  be  surprised,  sir,"  he  remarked,  "  when  I 
tell  you  who  I  am." 

"  Nothing  can  astonish  me  much  in  these  days  of  mag 
netic  telegraphs." 

"  But  this  is  probably,"  said  he,  "  the  first  time  that 
you  have  had  actual  conversation  with  one  who  does  not 
belong  to  this  world,  and  is  merely  an  agent  of  an  absent 
monarch,  to  collect  for  him  the  trophies  which  increase 
with  each  succeeding  moment." 

I  began  to  think  my  companion   a  madman,  and  the 

conviction  was  strengthened  when  he  proceeded  to  say- 
is 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

"  Yes !  That  monarch  is  the  Past ;  an  unrelenting 
and  unyielding  tyrant,  who  never  returns  the  lightest 
trifle  that  ever  conies  within  his  grasp." 

"  And  you,"  I  remarked,  "  appear  to  be  his  confidential, 
clerk,  or  travelling  agent." 

"It  is  my  duty,"  said  the  mysterious  stranger,  "to 
collect,  during  the  brief  period  assigned  for  my  labor, 
such  mementos  of  his  power  as  this  earth  may  afford 
and  when  I  shall  have  laid  them  at  his  feet,  I,  too,  will 
become  one  of  his  victims  and  his  monuments,  and  be 
denied  the  privilege  of  ever  visiting  this  earth  again." 

"  And  what  is  your  name  ?"  I  inquired. 

"  Alas  !"  exclaimed  the  stranger,  "  I  am  the  '  Passing 
Year,'  and  although  visible  to  you  at  this  moment,  have 
usually  neither  a  '  local  habitation'  nor  a  name  amongst 
mankind.  I  perceive  that  you  are  on  the  border  line  of 
life — that  boundary  between  manhood  and  old  age,  at 
which  the  affections  and  feelings  linger,  the  mind  still 
looking  backward  to  the  scenes  in  which  it  knew  the 
sweetest  delights,  while  the  flesh,  growing  weaker  at 
every  step,  journeys  toward  eternity.  In  these  volumes 

I  have  the  record  of  what  man  has  achieved  during  the 

19 


A    (MI  RfSTMA  S    DREAM, 
time  of  my  pilgrimage — of  the  wrongs  and  virtues  that 

i/      JL        O  O  O 

have  disfigured  or  adorned  his  career.  It  is  a  strange 
history  of  hopes  that  are  blighted,  friendships  estranged, 
promises  violated,  faith  disregarded,  right  trodden  in  the 
dust,  wrong  elevated  to  the  highest  places,  merit  spurned 
by  the  foot  of  presumption,  and  Virtue  checked,  and  in 
sulted  by  Vice  in  her  flagrant  and  infamous  career.  Ob 


serve  the  comparative  size  of  these  volumes.  Here," 
holding  up  a  book  not  larger  than  a  child's  primer,  "  is 
the  record  of  virtuous  resolutions  kept.  What  huge 
quarto  enrolls  those  that  were  violated  ?  The  bad  pre- 
20 


A    CHRISTMAS    I)  UK  AM. 

ponderate*  over  the  good  through  all  these  volumes  in 
the  same  proportion.  Ah,  sir !  mine  has  been  an  un 
pleasant  duty.  I  was  ushered  into  office  amidst  the  wild 
shouts  of  the  multitude  hailing  my  approach,  as  if  I  were 
to  bless  them  all  with  a  profusion  of  Heaven's  choicest 
gifts.  Alas  !  many  who  shouted  deliriously  at  my  advent, 
are  now  low  in  the  dust,  and  have  been  compelled  to 
look  on  powerless,  while  death  laid  his  icy  hand  upon 
some  of  the  most  generous  hearts  that  ever  thrilled  within 
mortal  bosom. 

"  I  could  tell  you  of  one  who  seemed  born  to  show  how 
much  that  was  immortal  and  noble  could  dwell  within 
the  precincts  of  a  human  frame.  From  childhood's  ear 
liest  prime,  to  the  moment  when,  far  from  friends  and 
kindred,  he  breathed  out  his  spirit  to  Heaven,  there  was 
no  time  when  he  stood  in  the  path  of  any  fellow-creature, 
or  when  there  existed  one  wretch  to  whom  his  departure 
could  afford  a  thrill  of  fiendish  satisfaction.  His  heart 
was  open  to  generous  influences,  as  his  countenance  to 
the  benign  expressions  which,  beaming  from  every  fea 
ture,  cheered  his  troops  of  friends.  There  was  no  impulse 
of  his  soul,  no  word  on  his  lip,  no  pressure  in  his  hand, 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

that  had  ever  felt  the  influence  of  hypocrisy,. and  in  the 
prime  of  his  manhood  you  might  read  his  nature  as  easily 
as  that  of  a  child.  Having  nothing  to  conceal,  he  won 
dered  that  men  were  surprised  at  the  frankness  which 
was  part  of  his  nature :  and  he  could  not  understand 
why,  in  association  with  his  fellows,  there  could  be  a 
feeling  called  reserve.  There  were  many,  very  many 
places  where,  without  his  ever  knowing  of  his  impor 
tance,  the  appearance  of  this  benevolent  and  kindly  being 
was  hailed  as  the  sufferer  hails  the  ruddy  dawn ;  and 
when  he  was  striving  to  cheer  the  heavy  hours  of  those 

O  «/ 

who  seemed  to  need  his  sympathy,  how  many  hearts 
were  eager  to  yield  him  the  same  solace  !  Full  of  boy 
ish  innocence,  he  yet  plumed  himself  upon  the  ripe 
experience  and  practical  wisdom  of  the  ma.n,  assuming 
for  the  while,  to  give  himself  the  weight  that  age  and 
trial  demand,  an  appearance  of  austerity  which  could 
but  for  a  moment  abide  upon  him,  and  which  only 
served  to  amuse,  like  a  grotesque  mask  concealing  the 
features  of  a  smiling  face.  In  all  that  was  generous, 
unselfish,  and  wTarm-hearted,  he  was,  to  most  of  his  fel 
lows,  the  wonder  as  well  as  idol ;  and  there  lives  not 

22 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

one  being  who  ever  sought  the  influence  of  his  kindly 
spirit,  and  went  away  dissatisfied.  Men  wondered  that 
he  did  not  yearn  for  fame ;  and  yet,  detecting  himself  in 
such  a  desire,  he  would  have  banished  the  thought  at 

O 

once,  as  involving  a  wish  to  elevate  himself  above  those 
whom  he  loved.  He  would  rather  have  the  thanks  of  a 
beggar  than  the  throne  of  Caesar.  But  he  has  gone  down 
into  the  grave,  even  when  his  friends  strained  the  eyelids 
of  their  hearts  for  his  coming  and  delighted  in  the  expec- 


tation  that  they  must  soon  behold  one  who  never  grasped 
the  hand  of  his   fellow  from  any  but  a  brother's  feeling. 


A    CHRISTMAS    DUE  AM. 

He  has  gone,  from  no  more  apparent  necessity  than  dies 
the  bird  which,  during  the  sunny  season,  poured  out  its 
melodious  song  from  the  leafy  spray,  and  has  since  uttered 
its  last  note  in  the  wild-wood.  He  has  gone,  and  all  who 
knew  him  regret  his  departure,  and  feel  that  it  is  a  greater 
trial  to  remain  here,  now  that  he  is  no  more,  than  even 
to  venture  on  the  unknown  world  in  quest  of  him,  and 
the  hearty  greeting  he  knew  how  to  give.  If  you  ever 
feel  a  doubt  that  the  beautiful  and  good  exist  hereafter, 
think  of  such  a  character  as  I  have  here  described,  and  ask 
yourself  if  there  can  be  one  reason  why  such  a  being,  hav 
ing  existed,  should  ever  utterly  perish.  But  I  weary  you 
with  these  saddening  thoughts.  It  is  Christmas  Eve. 
Come  forth  with  me  into  the  air,  and  I  will  reveal  to  you 
what  no  mortal  eye  hath  seen  before.  I  will  show  you, 
in  vour  own  history,  how  is  connected  by  a  mysterious 
influence  the  Christmas  of  the  present  with  the  Christmas 
of  the  past." 


CIIAPTEK    III. 

K  is  an  elm-tree  in  the  Park,  near  Chatham 
street,  which,  in  the  "  golden  prime"  of  my  boy- 
•^-r^       hood,  was  the  rendezvous  at  which,  after  school 

V    7 

hours  and    during   holidays,  we  so  often  assem 
bled,  thence  to  set  out  on  many  a  cheerful  adven 
ture  in   (jiiest  of  fun.     The  merry  group  which  clustered 
there  so  often,  comes  to  my  memory  with  the  same  dis 
tinctness  as  if  by  some  maoic   influence    I  were  carried 

«/  o 

backward  over  the  intervening  period  to  those  happy 
school-boy  days  once  more.  I  well  remember  that  glori 
ous  period,  during  which,  unlike  almost  all  my  com 
panions,  I  did  not  lose  the  enjoyment  of  present  happiness 
in  the  strange  ambition  to  be  a  man.  All  my  wants 
were  then  provided  for  by  those  whom  it  has  been  my 
lot  to  see  laid  in  the  dust.  Oh !  how  at  the  hour  when 
school  was  "  dismissed"  w e  scampered  off  as  wild  caprice 
suggested,  making  the  street  resound  with  jocund  shouts, 
and  engaging  in  the  various  sports  which  youth  so  inge- 

(4)  25 


A     ('II  RISTMAS    J)REA  M. 

niously  devises.  There  was  an  ogre,  too,  in  those  days— 
the  keeper  of  the  park — a  mild  and  worthy  man  in  his 
ordinary  mood,  no  doubt,  "but  with  a  nose  that  blushed 
scarlet  over  the  transgressions  of  his  lips.  We  gave  him 
the  title  of  "  Rum-nose,"  which,  perhaps,  was  more  just 
than  elegant,  and  it  was  our  great  delight  to  annoy  the 
poor  fellow,  leading  him  into  useless  chases  up  and  down 
the  steps  of  the  City  Hall,  and  through  its  entries,  over 
its  vestibule,  and  even  into  the  court-rooms,  where  jus 
tice  is  said  to  be  administered.  Christmas  Eve  was  a 
great  time  then,  and  was  seen  from  afar.  We  commenced 
discussing  its  advent,  and  the  delights  it  would  brinsr, 

O  O  £^  / 

from  the  last  holiday  that  preceded  it ;  and  even  now, 
when  in  the  maturity  of  life  we  find  Christmas  at  hand, 
and  feel  no  excitement  of  preparation,  we  wonder  why 
we  miss  the  feverish  expectation  with  which  it  was  once 
awaited,  forgetting  how  few  cares  we  had  then  to  disturb 
the  darling  anticipation  of  the  heart.  How  delightful 
then  became  the  home  from  which  we  had  so  often  stolen 
out  at  nights  in  defiance  of  parental  authority,  and  to  the 
imminent  danger  of  our  persons!  There  was  such  a 
"  busy  note  of  preparation"  about  the  house,  such  mys- 


A     (MI  IMSTM  AS     DRK  A  M. 

terions  deposits  of  turkeys  and  quarters  of  mutton  in  the 
hall,  such  strange  developments  of  baskets,  only  equalled 
by  the  banquets  that  come  from  the  earth  in  pantomime  , 
and  such  a  profusion  of  fruit  and  confections  actually  left 
within  our  reach  without  even  a  prohibition  to  touch 
them.  Who  can  even  forget  the  smell  of  his  Christmas 
home  ? 

"  There  is  the  Christmas  table  of  your  youth,"  said  my 
companion;  and  lo !  I  had  become  a  boy  again.  The 
dinner  table  was  surrounded  by  the  family  once  more. 
There  was  not  even  one  absent.  He  "by  whose  kind, 
paternal  side"  we  grew  toward  manhood,  occupied  the 
head  of  the  table,  his  hair  slightly  dashed  with  gray,  his 
face  radiant  with  a  cheerful  smile,  and  his  proud  glance 
directed  around  the  abundant  board  to  those  on  whom 
his  hopes  and  pride  now  centre;!.  And  there  was,  too, 
my  mother — she  of  whom  the  recollection,  now  that  she 
has  been  some  years  "  laid  in  her  narrow  place  of  rest," 
is  like  a  mingled  sense  of  pleasure  and  duty,  each  ever 
present,  and  each  in  turn  growing  stronger  than  its  kin 
dred  feeling — she  to  whom,  in  my  earliest  sufferings,  I 
breathed  my  secret  complaints  with  the  sublime  con- 

27 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 


.fidence  that  they  were  as  safe  as  they  could  l>e  in 
Heaven — she  whose  ready  ear  caught  up  every  syllable 
in  which  I  told  of  any  wrong  her  son  had  suffered,  or 
honor  he  had  attained,  however  evanescent — she,  whose 
large  heart,  peopled  l>y  her  children,  seemed  yet  capa 
cious  enough  to  nurture  all  the  afflicted  of  the  human 

O 

28 


A    (JURIS  T  M  A  S    1)  R  E  A  M . 

race — she,  whose  face  now,  in  the  greatest  anguish  of 
manhood,  comes  like  an  angel  from  God  to  my  spiritual 
sense,  and  whispers,  in  language  which  the  soul  only  can 
hear,  that  there  will  be  a  season  of  relief  and  of  happi 
ness — she,  the  dearly  beloved  idol  of  my  whole  nature, 
whose  hand  still  seems  to  have  smoothed  my  pillow 
when  I  lie  down  for  rest  on  earth,  whose  presence  shall 
be  felt  in  each  thrill  of  my  latest  breathings  at  the 
solemn  hour  of  death,  and  who  I  know  will  be  the  first 
to  meet  me,  if  we  be  restored  to  each  other  by  the 
benign  mercy  of  a  benevolent  God. 

There,  too,  about  that  table,  were  all  my  brothers  and 
sisters.  All  were  in  perfect  health,  and  all  happy.  Such 
eating,  drinking,  laughing,  sin<niio;,  and  after  the  dinner, 

O'  O'  O  O'  O          O/  / 

such  dancing,  tumbling,  and  playing  at  Blindman's  Buff! 
The  scene  went  swimming  before  me,  and  in  an  instant 
the  whole  of  a  past  life  was  disclosed. 

"  The  Christmas  of  manhood,"  said  my  companion. 

The  same  table,  with  no  diminished  store  of  what  may 
yield  the  body  pleasure,  but,  oh !  how  much  narrowed 
the  happy  circle  which  once  gathered  there  at  the  happy 
Christmas  season !  He  was  gone,  the  pillar  and  the  prop 


A    0  II  II I S  T  M  A  S    1)  R  E  A  M  . 

of  all;  gone  in  the  maturity  of  life,  "but  before  the  frosts 
of  age  had  been  laid  too  deep  on  the  generous  impulses 
that  burned  in  his  magnanimous  nature.  She,  too,  had 
departed,  at  whose  decease  it  seemed  so  unwise  that  any 
should  be  permitted  to  remain,  and  in  the  absence  of 
whom  the  rose  seemed  to  have  lost  its  fragrance,  and  the 
very  stars  their  glory.  A  sister,  too,  whose  graceful  form 
moved  like  a  thino;  of  lio;ht  and  pleasure  through  the 

O  O  -1-  O 

household,  gladdening  wherever  it  came — her  chair  also 
was  vacant.  And  now  that  I  observe  more  closely,  I 

•/  / 

miss  the  face  of  him  whose  features  seemed  to  flash  from 
them  in  combined  light  all  of  good  and  pleasant  that 
existed  in  all  the  family  beside.  Death,  alas !  had 
"  stepped  in  and  thinned  that  little  band,"  and  the  mem 
bers  of  the  circle,  once  so  extended,  now  drew  closer  and 
closer  together,  because  of  the  breaches  that  had  been 
made  in  their  ranks,  to  sustain  each  other,  until,  at  the 
command  of  him  who  gives  and  takes  away,  the  last  link 
of  the  chain  shall,  I  trust,  be  reunited  with  that  from  which 
it  was  wrested  when  the  first  of  our  dear  ones  perished- 
"  My  time  is  drawing  near  to  its  close,"  said  the  Pass 
ing  Year,  "and  I  have  but  one  more  scene  to  show  you." 

30 


A    (MI  II  1ST  MAS    DREAM. 

There  was  the  parlor  of  our  home.  The  fire,  that  I 
had  expected  to  see  burning  cheerfully  when  I  returned, 
had  a  dim  look,  and,  strange  to  say,  four  figures  sat 
around  it  holding  correspondence  with  each  other,  with 
looks  that  indicated  conversation,  but  were  unattended 
with  any  sounds.  How  can  I  describe  the  pleasure  that 
pervaded  each  pulse  of  my  frame,  when  I  recognized  the 
dear  departed  members  of  our  family  enjoying,  as  they 
were  wont  to  do  in  life,  the  comforts  of  that  home  which 
their  presence  had  so  often  made  hap])}' !  How  ecstatic 
would  my  joy  have  been  could  I  have  embraced  them 
all ;  but  the  hand  of  my  attendant  was  laid  upon  me, 
and  I  could  but  gaze  upon  my  heavenly  visitors,  rapt 
in  wonder  and  delight. 

"  They  Lave  been  waiting  for  you  to  come  home,"  said 
he ;  "and  will  not  quit  the  house  until  you  are  secure  in 
slumber.  Look !" 

I  gazed  with  astonishment  while  my  dear  lost  ones 
ascended  to  the  rooms  where  our  family  repose,  and  saw 
each  of  them  stoop  over  those  who  were  sleeping,  to  kiss 
the  slumberer's  cheek.  Then  all  stood  around  the  bed 
and  elevated  their  eyes  with  their  prayers  to  our  Maker. 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

Then  they  returned  to  the  fire,  and  seated  themselves 
once  more,  and  there  came  back  to  my  delighted  spirit 
such  a  sensitive  recollection  of  all  they  had  done  for 
me,  and  of  what  I  had  omitted  that  misrht  have  made 

/  O 

their  lives  more  happy,  that  I  could  have  fallen  on  my 
knees  before  them  and  besought  the  forgiveness  of  each. 
But  I  was  restrained  by  my  companion ;  and  it  was  not 
until  I  had  laid  myself  down  to  rest  for  the  night  that 
the  beloved  faces  visited  my  couch  also,  and  lingered 
over  my  pillow  with  looks  of  undying  love.  Then  I 
heard  the  prayers  for  my  prosperity,  mingled  with 
sounds  of  sweetest  melody,  which  seemed  to  combine 
expression  of  all  the  memories  that  followed  my  steps 
from  childhood  to  the  present  hour. 

The  benign  faces  of  the  dear  ones  disappeared,  but  my 
old  companion  stood  beside  my  bed  and,  laying  his  hand 
upon  mine,  said,  in  a  voice  whose  every  tone  still  lingers 
in  my  memory : 

"  You  have  seen  to-night  the  appeal  of  suffering 
spurned  by  the  heartlessness  of  bloated  avarice.  You 
have  seen  what  would  be  the  rank  injustice  of  a  world 
controlled  by  blind  chance,  where,  if  the  afflicted  child 


A    C 1 1  It  i  IS  T  M  AS    D  It  E  A  M . 

were  crushed  beneath  the  wheel  of  the  miser,  there  could 
be  no  redress  for  the  one,  nor  punishment  for  the  other. 

"You  have  been  assured  by  visions  that  those  whom 
you  loved  above  all  others  on  earth,  still  follow,  and  are 
with  you,  and  watch  over  you  when  slumber  is  sweetest. 
These  have  not  been  the  visions  of  a  waking  sense,  but 
mysterious  revelations  from  your  heart,  teaching  the  sub 
lime  lesson  that  the  influence  which  any  beloved  object 
once  gained  over  your  nature  will  survive  the  decease  of 
the  object  itself;  and  if  you  do  but  cherish  it  a  little, 
will  be  as  a  fragrance  shed  upon  your  soul  to  make  it 
pure  forever.  Wake  on  the  morrow,  and  conduct  your 
life  as  if  it  had  been  disclosed  to  you  that  they  whose 
good  opinion  you  so  respected  while  they  lived,  are  still 
near  to  the  dear  ones  whom  they  nurtured,  and  for 
whose  prosperity  they  were  ready  even  to  lay  down  life. 
The  ancients  had  their  household  gods — the  work  of 
mortal  hands,  and  only  sanctioned  by  the  sincerity  of 
superstition — while  you,  through  the  blessing  of  Heaven, 
enjoy  the  omnipresent  care  of  the  great  Creator,  and  have, 
as  gods  of  the  household,  the  memories  of  departed 
loved  ones,  to  be  reunited  with  whom  should  be  the 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

aim  and  end  of  your  whole  existence.  Ponder  this  well, 
and  feel  the  solemn  truth  which  it  was  my  mission  to 
disclose,  that  in  the  midst  of  happiest  life,  and  when  the 
thoughts  of  death  are  furthest  from  your  heart,  there 

O  */ 

may  be,  close  beside  you,  eager  with  care  lest  you  should 
by  some  false  step  be  lost  from  the  path  that  may  lead 
you  to  their  arms,  those  for  whose  presence  in  another 
world  you  should  pray  most  fervently  to  your  Maker." 

I  know  not  how  my  mysterious  visitor  departed,  nor 
where.  But  he  made  my  Christmas  more  cheerful  than 
it  would  have  been  but  for  his  teachings.  I  communi 
cate  the  lesson  he  imparted  to  me,  with  the  hope  that 
even  with  as  much  pleasure  as  descends  upon  one  ray  of 
sunshine  into  the  prisoner's  cell,  it  may  fall  on  the  heart 
of  those  who  have  recently  suffered  a  domestic  affliction. 
There  must  be  many  who  at  this  festive  season  will  be 
compelled  to  steal  away  from  the  pleasures  of  general 
hospitality,  and  who  will  spend  the  hours,  that  were  in 
happier  times  devoted  to  heartfelt  pleasure,  in  the  society 
of  the  dead  and  not  of  the  living.  To  these  even  my 
words  may  be  like  the  rain-drops  on  the  parched  earth, 

and  I  would  say  to  them  that  it  may,  perhaps,  occasion 

34 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

anguish  to  those  they  love  and  have  lost,  to  see  them  in- 
dulrmio;  sorrow  that  is  useless,  although  grateful,  and 

O         O  /  O  O 

that  they  should  rather  spend  in  mild  pleasure  the  hours 
of  that  holiest  season  when  He  came  to  bless  the  earth, 
through  whom  we  are  taught  that  the  dead  and  the  living 
may  meet  and  lie  happy  again. 


Eighteen  hundred  and  sixty  !  And  lo  !  the  Christmas 
time  again  returns.  Fifteen  eventful  years  have  passed 
away  since  I  cast  thee — frail  offering — upon  the  waters 
of  literature,  little  dreaming  that  thou  would'st  come  back 
to  me,  even  "  after  many  days."  But  it  is  the  season 
when  many  a  wanderer  revisits  home,  and  why  should'st 
not  thou  cease  to  be  a  truant  ?  Welcome,  slender  "  birth 
of  my  thought  "•  —memorial  of  the  by-gone  days  with 
which  so  many  cheerful  and  saddening  associations  are 
now  connected.  Industry  and  art  have  sent  thee  to  me 
in  guise  more  attractive  far  than  that  in  which  thou  first 
went  forth,  and  I  behold  the  beauty  of  thy  dress  with 
pleasure.  Let  me  fold  this  new  garment  of  affectionate 


A    CHKISTMAS    DEEAM. 

words  about  thee,  and  prepare  thee  once  more  for  a  jour 
ney  into  the  wide,  wide  world. 

It  lias  l>ee:i  said  that  after  thirty,  we  make  no  new 
friends.  Few  have  failed  to  verify,  in  their  experience, 
the  general  truth  of  the  aphorism.  And  it  may  be  an 
illustration  of  this  truth,  that  even  in  journeying  toward 
the  fortieth  year  of  existence,  we  advance  often  with 
eyes  cast  backward,  lingering  with  affectionate  constancy 
amidst  the  acquaintances  and  incidents  of  our  prime.  A 
lock  of  hair,  a  ring,  a  word  penned  by  some  beloved  hand 
—the  merest  trifle,  casually  encountered,  may  recall  the 
hour  when  it  first  came  to  our  touch.  We  fondle  in  mem 
ory  over  the  memorial  sometimes  with  tearful  hearts. 
And  why  may  not  this  little  book  call  up  some  tribute 
from  my  sensibilities,  when  I  behold  in  it  the  record  of 
that  era  when  not  one  touch  of  frost  had  assailed  my 
brow,  nor  experience  yet  instructed  me  to  distrust  the 
whispers  of  Hope  or  the  promises  of  Ambition  ? 

Fifteen  eventful  years  !  terminating  at  the  period  when 
the  onward  march  of  life  is  inevitably  and  rapidly  toward 
indifference,  infirmity,  and  death !  The  hours  now  flit 
away  as  instants,  the  seasons  chase  each  other  with  rapid 

30 


A    CHEISTMAS    DEEAM. 

feet,  and  the  years  grow  shorter  and  shorter.  We  who 
feel  these  truths — let  us  look  back  over  the  interval  I 
have  mentioned.  The  children,  in  whose  sweet  prattle  we 
once  delighted,  have  long  since  forgotten  that  imperfect 
speech  which  surpasses  perfect  elocution,  and  have  grown  to 
glib  maturity.  Ella  no  longer  sits  on  our  lap  and  hears  our 
stories  of  the  nursery,  or  the  Fairy  realms.  She  was  then 

"  Pure  as  the  hues  within  the  flower, 
To  summer  and  the  sun  unknown." 

Even  so  pure  is  the  darling  now,  but  the  world  has 
touched  her  nature,  and  the  resistless  current  of  fashion 
drawn  her  within  its  flow.  She  is  the  beloved  of  some 
gallant  gentleman,  no  doubt,  who  will  monopolize  all  the 
sweet  favors  which  her  young  lips  were  wont  to  lavish  on 
many  cherishing  admirers.  Ben,  who  was  so  formidable 
on  his  cane,  which  he  bestrode  as  if  it  were  a  Bucephalus, 
to  charge,  like  Coeur  de  Lion,  castles  made  of  chairs,  in 
which  imaginary  ogres  imprisoned  lovely  virgins — Ben 
swells  the  ranks  of  "  Young  America,"  knows  the  flavor 
of  every  vintage — the  reputation  of  every  cuisine  ;  is  elo 
quent  upon  Chateau  Margaux  and  "  Figaros  ;"  discourses 
politics,  science,  and  art ;  is  didactic  at  times  about  "  hu- 


A    CHKISTMAS    DREAM. 

man  nature ; "  and  when  the  dance  goes  on,  performs  in  a 
minute  more  revolutions  than  were  ever  thought  of  on  the 

O 

continent.  Our  contemporaries — they  who  a  few  years 
since  showed  glossy  locks  of  all  hues  but  silver — how 
grizzly  and  dry  they  appear  these  cool  mornings.  We 
begin  to  doubt  whether  it  is  safe  to  associate  with  the  old 
fellows.  But  are  they  all  here  to-day  ?  Alas  !  where  is 
he  with  whom  so  often  in  athletic  exercise  I  sought  the 

o 

rest  and  recreation  most  welcome  after  hours  of  toil,  and 
in  whose  company  so  many  of  the  smaller  hours  were 
passed,  mingling  revelry,  I  fear,  with  strange  and  versatile 
discourse  ?  Where  he  with  wThom  I  first  sought  the  shores 

o 

of  the  Old  World,  grateful  that  we  might  tread  together 
the  "  pleasant  land  of  France,"  the  vine-clad  fields  of  Italy, 
the  green  sward  of  the  British  Islands,  in  hours  that  seem 
covered  all  over  with  the  garlands  of  memory  ?  Where 
he  who,  full  of  even  audacious  energy,  was  my  associate 
or  my  opponent  in  those  struggles  from  which  fame  was 
anticipated,  if  not  won,  and  whose  active  brain  and  form 
challenged  alike  the  admiration  of  foe  or  friend  ?  The 
premature  grave  and  the  unrelenting  sea  must  give  the 
sad  responses  to  my  call.  Alas  !  how  I  shudder  when 


A    CHRISTMAS    DKEAM. 

the  past  discloses  to  my  mind's  eye  those,  too,  who,  failing 
to  achieve  any  part  of  the  triumphs  for  which  they  had 
every  endowment,  went  down  so  ignobly  in  the  "  battle 
of  life,"  leaving  Charity  to  be  the  kindest  and  best 
guardian  of  their  memory.  Alas  !  too — how  many  have 
departed  full  of  the  honors  which  it  might  seem  just  that 
they  should  enjoy  forever,  even  in  mortal  existence ;  they 
whose  old  age  was  not  less  beautiful  than  their  youth, 
and  "  eveiy  wrinkle  on  whose  brows  was  but  a  notch  in 
the  calendar  of  a  well-spent  life." 

Yet  who  shall  repine  at  these,  the  common  results  of 
our  sublunary  drama— these  many  parts  and  dooms  ex 
hibited  in  the  great  theatre  of  humanity  ?  Why  repeat 
so  tediously  the  lamentations  which,  in  every  tongue,  and 
far  more  eloquent  phrase  than  mine,  have  been  uttered 
ever  since  man's  voice  was  heard  on  earth  ?  Did  I  not 
say  that  the  Christmas  time  returns  ?  Here  is  the  jocund 
season ;  the  evergreens  are  gathered  to  deck  the  halls  of 
hospitable  homes  ;  the  members  of  families,  separated  for 
months  or  years,  are  once  more  to  assemble  around  the 
familiar  hearth-stones ;  the  banquet  and  the  music  are 
being  prepared ;  the  flowers  are  already  wreathed  ;  the 


A    CHRISTMAS    DKEAM. 

memories  awakened ;  the  ears  and  hearts  attuned  to 
symphonies ;  and  while  the  lights  gleam,  and  the  strains 
of  melody  mingle  in  the  brilliant  atmosphere  with  de 
licious  perfume,  the  laugh  of  age  shall  unite  with  that  of 
childhood,  the  feast  shall  be  ample,  the  jest  swift,  the 
dance  nimbler  than  ever,  and  the  hours  go  round  with 
only  lustre  on  their  wings.  Go  to  !  Let  us  leave  off  this 
useless  sorrowing.  What  though  the  past  exhibits  a  path 
tracked  with  the  tombs  of  beloved  ones  whose  hearts, 
that  once  throbbed  in  unison  with  ours,  have  long  since 
mouldered?  What  though  the  circle  of  friends  from 
which  so  much  of  illumination  radiated  upon  our  souls, 
grows  narrower,  and  we  doubt  whether,  when  the  next 
of  its  links  is  broken,  we  shall  share  or  occasion  the  sor 
row  of  survivors  ?  Yet  should  we  be  of  good  cheer,  and 
snatch  from  passing  Time  whatever  innocent  grace  or 
pleasure  he  places  within  our  grasp.  We  are  the  recruits 
of  the  vast  army  which  has  moved  for  ages  onward  to  a 
common  fate — units  of  that 

'•  Innumerable  caravan 
Which  moves  to  that  mysterious  realm, 
"Where  each  must  take  his  chamber 
Within  the  silent  halls  of  Death." 

40 


A    CHRISTMAS    DREAM. 

Our  brothers  in  the  pilgrimage  will  fall  at  our  side,  but 
however  thickly  the  arrows  of  death  may  shower,  we  can, 
while  our  powers  continue,  do  naught  but  move  on  until 
we  reach  the  awful  instant  when  we  are  to  exchange  the 
feeble  pulses  of  transitory  existence  for  the  ceaseless 
throbbing  of  eternal  life.  There,  even  there,  at  that 

O  77 

mysterious  frontier,  if  we  have  been  faithful  and  fearless 
in  the  march,  we  may  lie  down  obedient  to  destiny,  with 
the  exalted  hope  that  after  all  the  objects  of  this  world 
shall  have  become  lost  forever  to  our  mortal  sight,  there 
may  be  unfolded  to  our  new  and  spiritual  vision  another 
realm  of  unimaginable  glory,  where  we  and  all  whom  we 
loved  on  earth  may  realize  the  promise  which  the  Great 
Ruler  of  the  universe  has  made  unto  the  just. 

CHRISTMAS,  1860. 
(G)  41 


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K^&^t&&j^ 


